We don't do coloring at the salon I work at (YET! We will when/if I get a white poodle!) but I was around those products when I was in my schooling. They have great color when they set, and you don't have to worry about it staying in forever if you don't like it. I think they're vegetable based, so it only lasts a couple weeks and fades out, depending on how often you bathe of course.

Cindy, the poodle you linked, and her owner Sandy Hartness(sp?) do amazing things with colors and creative grooms. You can also use blow pens.

*one day* I will dye Paris purple. For now I can't afford the amount of dye it'd take to do her though, and I've also got our poodle grooming exam this year so I'm probably better of not doing that yet... haha!

I've used Manic Panic (technically a human dye, but it is vegetable based and safe). In my experience, pink doesn't fade very quickly. (I think I used "Hot Hot Pink") I ended up cutting a lot of it out of Bailey's hair b/c I'm impatient. I've heard mixed things about the Pet Edge dyes. Mainly that some of the colors don't turn out as expected. You might go to the groomer forums (I know of two) and search for the creative/color threads. If Wonder doesn't see this, PM her, she has dyed Jazz a few times. If you have more questions, I'm willing to help if I can.

*one day* I will dye Paris purple. For now I can't afford the amount of dye it'd take to do her though, and I've also got our poodle grooming exam this year so I'm probably better of not doing that yet... haha!

I have not used the pet edge brand dye, I have heard differing opinions on how good it is. It's possible that I am mistaken but I *think* that peacock dog was groomed BEFORE petedge introduced their brand of dye. I would swear I had seen it in a groomer to groomer or online several years ago. The dyes that you posted have only been on the market for two years. I remember when they first came out they only had like four colors and the groomer I worked with bought a purple one and tried to dye her crested with it. Didn't work out well.

I use manic panic with great sucess (to good in fact lol) I have also used food coloring and crayola side walk chalk, crayola markers, and a personal favorite Crayola blow pens.

It takes a lot longer to get coverage with any of the crayola products but in most cases water will take it right out of the coat. Very very temporary.
Though I did have purple sidewalk chalk stay in Jazz's ears for several weeks once.

Here are some examples and quick facts as I have learned them on a few various methods.

Done with blow pens and markers. The blow pens take a bit of work but once you get the hang of it it's pretty easy, like air brushing. Not ok to try doing this for an all over color, you'll get a headache at the least and pass out at the worst (yeah I learned that already lol) The markers are really easy to use but not on long hair, it's hard to do it on long hair. Blow pens WILL rub off on wet hands, as will markers. If it gets wet it will likely run and or fade very quickly.

Done with sidewalk chalk - body and blow pens - mane and tail.

Side walk chalk can be dusty and it's hard to get all of the dust out when you do a full body thing like what I did here. I used my dryer to try and blow the excess off. Problem was it's the dust that is the color so the more you blow off the lighter the color becomes. It's MUCH better used in small areas like highlights for the ears that I did here on my very first experiment with coloring Jazz. It's also hard to get even color on long hair with chalk, easier with blow pens.

Food coloring in cheap and easy to use. It will not wash out right away or rub off on hands, not even wet hands. It fades gradually with each bath. For what you seem to want to do I would suggest the food coloring myself since it's less expensive and will come out faster just in case you don't like it. It's also hands down the easiest to get. Head down to walmart, in the baking isle, and they have boxes of just one color, it's a 1oz bottle. I takes 6 or 7 to dye Jazz in the above picture - she's a standard. Don't get the multi pack of food colors, those are too tiny and don't get any gel colors or anything like that. Just plain old McCormic food coloring. Usually they have red, green, and yellow - I have yet to see the blue but I am sure it exists. Less than 2 bucks a bottle I do believe.

Actual dyes, like manic panic, are reasonably cheap and will wash out eventually... most colors anyway. Red you are stuck with so make sure not to apply it anywhere you want it gone in a hurry. You get much deeper richer colors with dyes like this.

The thing to keep in mind with dye AND food coloring is you need to assume that the finished color will be much lighter than what it looks like in the bottle. For example to dye a poodle pink with food coloring you need several of the larger one ounce bottles of RED food coloring and about half an hour to let it sit in the coat before rinsing it out. Gloves are also a good idea with any color lol.
this is what it looked like in process with the food coloring
by the way this stuff will stain anything that will absorb it so while it came off the shower/bath tub pretty easily it didn't come off the rug or the door when she unexpectedly jumped out before she had been rinsed! LoL

Nail polish is FUN FUN FUN!! Love it!! I don't use the pet brand nails polishes either if I can help it. It chips off waaay to quickly, takes to long to dry (IMO) and requires several coats. I go to walgreens and purchase a brand called sinful colors. It lasts just long enough, dries faster than any dog polish I have ever used, and doesn't always need coat after coat after coat to achieve the desired color. It's also in most cases cheaper than the pet stuff. I do have several bottles of the nail polish you posted and when I do use it I always put a coat of white (from the above mentioned walgreens brand) on the nail first so I get a truer color. It's an extra step and a pain so as you might imagine I rarely use the pet nail polish.

This is an example of the sinful colors polish job

I also do bows from time to time and though I have yet to try it I have seen and read that you can glue gems onto the hair or nails. I have been to cheap to go purchase any yet which is the only reason I haven't tried it out lol.
You might have noticed, I'm a bit of a creative grooming freak LoL though I am still experimenting. I have read of another product that you can buy from teaching supply stores but can't recall the name of it just now and obviously haven't used it yet so wouldn't be able to provide any info on it anyway.

Last edited by WonderPup; 01-27-2010 at 01:20 AM.

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I've used Manic Panic (technically a human dye, but it is vegetable based and safe). In my experience, pink doesn't fade very quickly. (I think I used "Hot Hot Pink") If Wonder doesn't see this, PM her, she has dyed Jazz a few times. If you have more questions, I'm willing to help if I can.

Pink stays longer because it is really light red, red doesn't go anywhere for some reason. The food color WILL fade out in about a month to 6 weeks depending on how often and in what you are bathing your dog in.

One more note on Manic Panic - DO NOT use the amplified version of the dye, use the regular formula, unless you are planning to cut the dye out. I learned this the hard way with of all colors RED! LoL.

Jazz's chirstmas look done at the begining of Decemeber

Click to enlarge and notice what is still hanging around mid march... In spite of weekly baths in whitening shampoo and a detergent used on the red parts to try and strip the color out. This was the amplified manic panic - a double application of it in fact. Don't do that... LoL

I ended up giving up and having to cut it out.

Ears and tails also hold color longer for some reason than other parts of the body so keep that in mind lol. The pink food color came out quickly except just behind the ears. She was a little pink even a few weeks ago.

I gotta say, before I ever even got a poodle (before I even knew I would be owning a dog) I promised myself that if I had a poodle, it would be pink at least once in it's life!! I LOVE pink poodles!! The one you posted is ridiculously adorable, she looks like a stuffed animal.
I'll probably wait until I have a girl though lol, it might be a bit mean to dye a boy dog all pink. I do want to dye parts of him orange at some point though! But I have no experience with dye so I can't help you in that department.

I'm really interested in what people have to say about the dryer. I've had my eye on it for a while since it's a cheap forced air dryer that seems reasonable, but I don't know how good it works on poodle hair. I hope some people have some experience with it or something and let us know how it works.

We don't do coloring at the salon I work at (YET! We will when/if I get a white poodle!) but I was around those products when I was in my schooling. They have great color when they set, and you don't have to worry about it staying in forever if you don't like it. I think they're vegetable based, so it only lasts a couple weeks and fades out, depending on how often you bathe of course.

Cindy, the poodle you linked, and her owner Sandy Hartness(sp?) do amazing things with colors and creative grooms. You can also use blow pens.

thanks Fluffyspoos! I've seen pictures from those amazing competitions for artistic cuts and detailed colorings of dogs

*one day* I will dye Paris purple. For now I can't afford the amount of dye it'd take to do her though, and I've also got our poodle grooming exam this year so I'm probably better of not doing that yet... haha!

Now, bows in her ears, coloured ears and painted nails we do though!

I'm such a sucker for good bows (like the hand made ones) Everyone always thinks Ocsi is a girl with or without bows so whenever I treat him to the salon and they ask, I always say bows please!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harley_chik

I've used Manic Panic (technically a human dye, but it is vegetable based and safe). In my experience, pink doesn't fade very quickly. (I think I used "Hot Hot Pink") I ended up cutting a lot of it out of Bailey's hair b/c I'm impatient. I've heard mixed things about the Pet Edge dyes. Mainly that some of the colors don't turn out as expected. You might go to the groomer forums (I know of two) and search for the creative/color threads. If Wonder doesn't see this, PM her, she has dyed Jazz a few times. If you have more questions, I'm willing to help if I can.

awesome, thanks Harley_chik! the dyes are rather expensive, so I would prefer to buy something else (especially if it works better!)